Passim

Mandamus decisions / Southern District of Texas

Sims v. USCIS

Southern District of TexasDena Hanovice PalermoDecided September 24, 2025No. 4:25-cv-01601

Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener

2,996 written decisions from 2,731 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided November 12, 2026. Updated November 14, 2026 at 1:17 a.m. CT; the Passim connector counts the live collection, which can differ by the day's additions and retirements (which total to quote). Coverage: of the 1,617 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,406 (87%), 1,039 of them in this group, measured November 14, 2026. Some of what that search finds are not mandamus decisions. Tell us about a decision we're missing.

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What the decision decided

Each value cites the passage it was read from. Values read by a model were checked against that passage; values read by rule come from fixed text patterns. Read the decision before relying on either.

Agency USCIS Read by a model
Plaintiffs also ask the Court to compel USCIS via a writ of mandamus to adjudicate their applications.
Form or filing I-485 (adjustment of status) Read by a model
In 2016, the children filed Form I-485 applications.
What the suit asked for Decide the application Read by a model
Plaintiffs also ask the Court to compel USCIS via a writ of mandamus to adjudicate their applications.
Kind of order A magistrate judge's recommendation Read by a model
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Therefore, the Court RECOMMENDS that Defendants’ motion to dismiss be GRANTED.
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
Before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss.
Disposition Magistrate judge's recommendation A magistrate judge's report and recommendation. The district judge decides whether to adopt it, so it is not counted as either side's win. Read by a model
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Prevailing party Neither side Read by a model
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
Plaintiffs’ APA and Mandamus Act claims should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction
The other claims Dismissed Read by a model
Plaintiff’s Due Process and “irreparable harm” claims should be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Months pending 105.2 months from the application to the suit; 110.8 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
In 2016, the children filed Form I-485 applications.
TRAC factors The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model
Threshold rulings Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar applied; Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar rejected Read by a model
The Court agrees with Defendants that this Court cannot hear Plaintiffs’ APA claims because the INA “largely bars judicial review of adjustment to status determinations such as [theirs].”
Nationality Nigeria Read by a model
Plaintiffs, a mother and her children, are citizens of Nigeria.

How the case ended

Docket
No. 4:25-cv-01601
On the docket
This ruling (ECF 21)
Filed
April 7, 2025
Ended
October 10, 2025
Suit's filing to its end
186 days
How it ended
Ended once the agency acted
From the record
decided 2025-10-10 on a voluntary dismissal; idb disp 12 (dismissed: voluntarily)

A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why. Other suits in this court.

The ruling's entry is the docket's one order or judgment entered the day of the decision. Both come from CourtListener's copy of the docket; check them there.

Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit authority

District decisions bind no one. On the questions this decision raises, the Supreme Court decisions and the circuit's published decisions listed here bind this court; a circuit disposition marked nonprecedential was not published as precedent and is persuasive only. ImmCite status as read November 14, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.